Shelton Jackson Lee was born in Atlanta, Georgia on March 20, 1957. Born to teacher Jacqueline Carroll and jazz musician William James Edward Lee, Shelton grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where he received a rich cultural education that included plays, films, and music (Gale 1). At a young age, Lee was nicknamed "Spike" by his mother who noticed his rough nature, and the nickname stuck well into his adult life. He attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, where he developed an interest in film and then majored in mass communications. Lee then attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where he created his first student film and graduated in 1982 with a Master of Fine Arts in Film and Television. As one of the few black students to attend the Tisch School of the Arts, the aspiring filmmaker's first year at New York University was especially difficult. Lee's experiences, race, and upbringing led him to create controversial films to provide audiences with insight into racial issues. Spike Lee's first student production, The Answer, was a short ten-minute film about a young black screenwriter who rewrote Griffith's DW The Birth of a Nation. The film was not well received among faculty at New York University, with claims that Lee had not yet mastered "cinematic grammar". Lee continued to believe that faculty were offended by his criticism of the respected director's stereotypical portrayals of black characters (1). For his latest film project, Lee wrote, produced and directed Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads. The film earned him the 1983 Student Academy Award for best director and Lincoln Center chose it as its first student production. The film was... middle of paper......d violence (Biography 1). As black-oriented films moved away from racism and focused more on humor and sex to appeal to new, younger audiences, Lee continued to focus on racial issues, keeping the door open for other filmmakers to follow. One of America's most original, innovative, and undoubtedly controversial filmmakers, Lee admits that he has been fortunate to express the opinions of blacks who otherwise would not have access to power and the media (IMDb 4). Lee uses this motivation stemming from his passion to be able to express the point of view of many, along with Malcolm X himself and his philosophy that blacks need to build their own economic base, to continue contributing to Hollywood (Gale 4) . There is no doubt that Spike Lee will continue to find ways to influence the public with his controversial actions, racist statements and films.